9. Maple Butter Pecan Ice Cream – another addition from 68 Days of Gourmet, this Maple Butter Pecan Ice Cream was the first recipe I tried with my KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker attachment.

8. Chocolate Cream Pie – are you noticing a theme here? This is another recipe from 68 Days of Gourmet and another dessert. You guys definitely love your sweets (like me!).

7. Applesauce Spice Muffins – Muffins are always a hit on the blog, especially when I add a healthy twist. These applesauce spice muffins are a breeze to whip up for breakfast and full of warm flavors!

5. 3 Ingredient Pot Roast – Another winner from 68 Days of Gourmet, this pot roast contains only three ingredients and is sure to be a winner with the whole family. Try using the leftovers for shredded beef enchiladas!

3. Chewy, Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies – My dad made these amazing brownies from Cooks Illustrated and they are absolutely perfect. A must-try for chocolate lovers. Even better served warm and topped with ice cream!

1. Overnight Baked French Toast – it’s only fitting that a recipe from 68 Days of Gourmet is the top post of 2010. I can’t blame you though, this French toast recipe is wonderful and so easy to assemble the night before. If you are an overnight guest in my house, it’s a pretty sure thing that you will be eating this French toast the next morning!

Thank you all for reading and eating along with me! Here’s to much more deliciousness (and more frequent posting, I promise) in 2011!

We have been so on the go lately and with our busy schedules the weekly menu plan has kind of gone by the wayside. We are finally back on a normal schedule and I was so happy to sit down this morning to plan the week’s menu and make the grocery trip. One of the first things that I do when I’m menu planning is check the store specials. I knew I wanted fish tonight and saw that they were offering rainbow trout at a great price. A quick search on Epicurious led me to this recipe for Sauteed Trout with Pecans.

I made some modifications to the original recipe. First, it called for an obscene amount of butter. I greatly reduced the butter with no detriment to the flavor of the dish. Second, after reading some of the online recipe reviews, I decided to add a bit of brown sugar to the pecans. I loved the hint of sweetness it gave the nuts.

This dish took less than 15 minutes to prepare. It was so simple but provided a lovely Sunday dinner when served alongside brown rice pilaf, green beans and ciabatta. I would have no problem serving this dish to dinner guests. Another win from Gourmet magazine – you just can’t go wrong with their recipes. This would have been a great dish for 68 Days of Gourmet!

Pat fish fillets dry and rub flesh sides with cayenne, teaspoon salt and pepper. Dredge in flour to coat both sides and shake off excess.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat until foam subsides. Cook trout, skin side down, until skin is golden-brown, about 4 minutes. Turn fish over and cook until just cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and keep warm, loosely covered with foil.

Pour off butter from skillet and wipe clean. Cook pecans with remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and brown sugar, stirring occasionally, until golden-brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and parsley and spoon over trout.

What better way to end 68 Days of Gourmet than with a champagne cocktail? Cheers to the project and cheers that it’s over! I can honestly say that I’m still glad that I decided to make the 68 recipes even though it ended up taking a little longer to get through them than anticipated.

There were definite hits and misses but overall I was impressed by the variety and quality of recipes to choose from. There are many recipes from the project that I know I will be making for years to come. Also, The Gourmet Cookbook is a wonderful resource to have in your kitchen and I highly recommend that everyone buy a copy of this book. I know that I will continue to turn to it for inspiration.

I created a 68 Days of Gourmet recipe index page that can be found at the top of the page. Our favorites are marked on the recipe index page but I’d like to share some of our very favorite recipes with you in this post.

If you have never had a French 75 you must try one. It’s a combination of gin, lemon juice, sugar and champagne. Don’t be leary of the drink if you’re not a gin lover – it does not have a strong gin taste. It’s actually a very refreshing flavor combination that packs quite a punch. ;)

If you’ve been following along the 68 Days of Gourmet – thank you! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the project and if you have any favorite recipes.

In a cocktail shaker, combine gin, lemon juice, sugar and ice cubes and shake to chill. Strain cocktails into two wine glasses, champagne flutes or on ice in cocktail glasses and top off with champagne.

Apologies for my disappearance the last week but I’m back with the final two recipes to wrap up 68 Days of Gourmet. And promises of lots more deliciousness to follow after the project is complete. I also want to point out the newly created 68 Days of Gourmet page (found above) that categorizes all of the recipes from the project.

Now that the housekeeping details are out of the way, let’s talk about the Warm Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake. I saw this cake while browsing The Gourmet Cookbook and loved that it was elegant but relatively easy. This is the type of cake that would be perfect for a dinner party or date night dinner. Another plus is that it can be made ahead of time and reheated.

The frosting is poured into the bottom of the cake pan and the batter is poured on top. When you invert the cake from the pan your frosting is all melted and gooey on top of the cake. This cake is very moist and the raspberry jam in the frosting and cake adds a nice flavor dimension. The only change I would make next time I bake this is using a higher quality jam to really step up the raspberry flavor.

This is an impressive cake that requires minimal effort and is sure to be a crowd pleaser – especially with the chocolate lovers!

FOR THE FROSTING
In a small heavy saucepan over low heat bring jam, cream and chocolate to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Pour frosting into cake pan.

FOR THE CAKE BATTER
In a bowl whisk together boiling water and cocoa powder until smooth and whisk in milk, vanilla, and jam. In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt and add to egg mixture in batches alternately with cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating well after each addition.

Pour batter evenly over frosting mixture and bake in middle of oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean (frosting on bottom will still be liquid). Cool cake slightly in pan on a rack, 10 to 20 minutes.

Run a thin knife around edge of pan and twist pan gently back and forth on a flat surface to loosen cake. Invert a cake plate with a slight lip over cake pan and, holding pan and plate together with both hands, invert cake onto plate. Frosting will cover cake and run onto plate.

* Cake may be made 1 day ahead, cooled completely in pan and left in pan, covered, at room temperature. Reheat cake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes.

North Carolina strawberries just came into season and Brandon sweetly picked up a flat for me at the farmer’s market last week. Strawberry is my favorite flavor of ice cream and ever since I received the KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment last Christmas, I’ve enjoyed trying homemade ice cream recipes. I was thrilled to see that Gourmet had several no-cook strawberry ice cream recipes.

We had friends in town visiting last weekend and I thought this Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream would be the perfect dessert for our cookout Friday night. It was so easy to put together since it didn’t require any cooking. You just throw all the ingredients in a blender then into the ice cream maker to freeze. I made it on my lunch break the day I served it. Not surprisingly, the ice cream was a hit. Who doesn’t love homemade ice cream?

Place strawberries, cream cheese, sugar, milk, lemon juice and salt in a blender. Blend until just incorporated. Stir in the heavy cream and chill. Follow the directions on your ice cream maker to freeze ice cream.

For the KitchenAid I slowly added the chilled ice cream base and mixed on the lowest speed for about 15 minutes, until the ice cream was the consistency of soft serve. Place in an airtight container and put in freezer to freeze completely.

Note, you may want to take the ice cream out to soften 10-15 minutes before serving.

Yield: about 8 servings

And I can’t resist sharing this picture that shows you how good the ice cream base tasted but I won’t reveal how much unfrozen ice cream I ate!

I haven’t had much luck with making pasta salad in the past. It always seemed to be lacking in flavor and pretty mediocre. We decided to grill kebabs last week and enjoy our first dinner out on our patio. I thought pasta salad sounded like the perfect side item.

I read through several recipes from Gourmet on Epicurious and this recipe for Whole-Wheat Pasta Salad with Zucchini and Olives sounded like a winner. We love Mediterranean flavors and I didn’t see how this could be boring with zucchini, olives, onions, tomatoes, garlic, fresh basil and feta.

I made a few modifications to the recipe. First, I made the pasta salad ahead of time (wanted to go to a late yoga class!) so I skipped grilling the zucchini in favor of a quick saute. Second, I just do not love the flavor of raw onions and garlic so I gave those a quick saute too (and subbed Vidalia’s for red onions because they were on hand).

The verdict? Awesome! The only complaint Brandon had was with the whole wheat pasta but that’s typical. He’s not a lover of the added chewiness. If you struggle with that too you may want to substitute white pasta for the wheat but keep in mind the added health benefits of using whole wheat pasta :)

I loved the flavors of this pasta salad and enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the next couple days. I cut the recipe in half and it still made a ton. This would be great for entertaining or to make for lunches for the week. I will most definitely be making this recipe again soon.

In a large bowl gently stir together tomatoes, onion, garlic paste, vinegar and olive oil. Set aside.

Brush one side of zucchini slices lightly with additional oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderate heat until hot and grill zucchini, oiled sides down, in batches, brushing tops with more oil before turning, 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until just tender but not soft. Transfer to a small bowl.

In a pot of salted boiling water cook pasta until just tender (following package directions) and drain. Add hot pasta to tomato mixture and toss to combine. Cool pasta slightly and stir in zucchini, olives, cheese, basil and salt and pepper to taste.

My most sincere apologies for the lack of updates over the last couple weeks. We closed on our first home and have been moving. Life is a little crazy right now! We LOVE our new house and are having so much fun getting everything unpacked and organized. The house hunting process was long with a lot of ups and downs but we really feel like we ended up with the perfect first home! Pictures of my new kitchen to come very soon.

I made this mushroom appetizer before we moved out of our apartment. It was also from the July 1946 issue of Gourmet (check out my previous post – Veal (or Pork) Scallopine – also from the 1946 magazine). They were a fun appetizer – Brandon loved them!

Promise I have tons of good stuff coming at you guys over the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

Mushroom Smetana
(Recipe source Gourmet, July 1946)

*Note – this is word-for-word how the original recipe was written. Crazy how different recipes were written then!

One fairly fancy hot whet which I dug into in the Shanghai-that-was is so good that we list it here. Never a gourmet-purist yet who didn’t want the recipes, once he tasted it. I call it Mushrooms Smetana – mushrooms with sour cream sauce – as did the Russian princess who was our dance partner for that night…Slice 1/2 pound of fairly small mushrooms fairly thin. Brown gently in 1 1/2 tablespoons butter. Mince one fairly large onion (we seem to be using a lot of “fairly’s” in this one!) and cook gently in another 1/2 tablespoon butter. (Original recipe said to do them separate, but I put them all together.) Now, turn in enough beef boullion or consomme to make quite moist, but not quite enough to cover. Simmer until mushrooms are tender. Work in 1 tablespoon of flour smooth with a little hot juice, put in pan and season with salt and cayenne to taste. Add 1 scant cup of sour cream (now buyable from any good town dairy); simmer up for 5 minutes. Serve hot on little squares of thin crisp toast. We add 1 tablespoon sherry just before serving.